Firefighters fight blaze at Ivy Terrace Apartments

Published: Friday, April 18, 2014 at 5:48 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, April 18, 2014 at 5:48 a.m.

Gravity pulled the contents of an overturned water heater out onto the ashes drop by drop, but by Friday afternoon the liquid fell helplessly near what was left of Ivy Terrace condominiums: a blackened door frame with no door, a second story with no floorboards and wall frames with nothing left to support.

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An early-morning blaze warped metal, shattered glass and made the six residential units at 708 W. Allen St. — a place that 10 people called home — uninhabitable.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Hendersonville Fire Chief Dorian Flowers said, looking at the wooden structure as crews turned off fire hydrant valves and put yellow hoses back onto fire trucks after almost 10 hours of work.

Shortly before 4 a.m. Friday morning, the Hendersonville Fire Department received a call about a fire on West Allen Street. By the time fire crews arrived at the scene — less than five minutes after emergency dispatchers received the initial call — Flowers said roughly 60 percent of the building had already been devoured by flames.

“It was one big, huge ball of fire,” said Roberta Wessells, a neighbor who lives across the street from Ivy Terrace. “The flames were leaping from the building.”

The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation by the Hendersonville deputy fire marshal and the Henderson County fire marshal, but a report could be complete by next week. Flowers noted this was the first fire at a multi-family dwelling in the city in a couple of years.

The fire started on the south side of the condominiums, and preliminary evidence shows the flames began on the ground floor, traveled up to the second floor and headed eastward toward the attic space, Flowers said. In its path, though, were residents.

A family living in one of the second-story units lowered their two children to safety before the parents jumped from the 10- to 12-foot high second-story balcony themselves. In total, four people were taken to Pardee Hospital with minor injuries.

Two of those individuals were later taken to Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga., where they were treated for burns on their feet.

At about 5:10 a.m., Disaster Action Team volunteers from the American Red Cross of the Western Carolinas were dispatched to the structure fire. The seven-person team consisted of three volunteers and four Red Cross staff members.

Disaster Action Team leader Stephanie Royal of Brevard was one of the volunteers. Royal lost her own home two years ago and now volunteers with the Red Cross to give back to families like hers that have been displaced from their homes after a disaster.

However, this was the first multi-family fire she has responded to. Though she said there were more factors to consider with a blaze of this scale, one human piece of disaster remains the same.

“In times like this, people become the person that they didn't know they could be, meaning they become a lot tougher than we think we realize we could be,” Royal said.

The organization is currently assisting five families displaced by the fire.

“Everyone there that I saw was in pajamas and bathrobes; they had nothing left,” said John Wareham, chief public affairs officer for the local Red Cross chapter. “The structure is a total loss.”

Flowers said four of the six units sustained heavy damage, while the other two have fire and water damage.

Flowers said 26 people from the Hendersonville Fire Department, Valley Hill & Rescue and Mountain Home Fire & Rescue worked at the scene during the course of the day. Dana Fire & Rescue and Blue Ridge Fire & Rescue were put on standby to respond to the fire as well.

While crews continued to completely put out the fire, Hendersonville police shut down part of West Allen Street.

Flowers said fighting the flames at Ivy Terrace was particularly complex.

“Because of the extent of damage and that it was a two-story building, the stuff on the top floor has been falling through to the bottom floor, and we have just been working to get those hot spots out,” he said Friday.

By that afternoon, some of the condominium building's exposed wooden wall frames more closely resembled used matchsticks than a piece of the facility's architecture.

“They're going to have to demo this,” Flowers said as he surveyed the structure. He pointed to a screened-in porch on the ground floor on the right side of the building, then pivoted and gestured toward the left side of the building.

Black ash blanketed the ground where the porch once was, and the soil was sprinkled with splintered and charred wood, roof shingles and broken glass. Flowers said some pet cats were still unaccounted for.

Following the fire, residents returned to the home where they could no longer live. Some came back to retrieve items they asked local firefighters to get from their units, such as pictures, clothing and important documents. Flowers said one of the tenants lingered and spoke with him.

<p>Gravity pulled the contents of an overturned water heater out onto the ashes drop by drop, but by Friday afternoon the liquid fell helplessly near what was left of Ivy Terrace condominiums: a blackened door frame with no door, a second story with no floorboards and wall frames with nothing left to support.</p><p>An early-morning blaze warped metal, shattered glass and made the six residential units at 708 W. Allen St. — a place that 10 people called home — uninhabitable. </p><p>“It could have been a lot worse,” Hendersonville Fire Chief Dorian Flowers said, looking at the wooden structure as crews turned off fire hydrant valves and put yellow hoses back onto fire trucks after almost 10 hours of work. </p><p>Shortly before 4 a.m. Friday morning, the Hendersonville Fire Department received a call about a fire on West Allen Street. By the time fire crews arrived at the scene — less than five minutes after emergency dispatchers received the initial call — Flowers said roughly 60 percent of the building had already been devoured by flames.</p><p>“It was one big, huge ball of fire,” said Roberta Wessells, a neighbor who lives across the street from Ivy Terrace. “The flames were leaping from the building.”</p><p>The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation by the Hendersonville deputy fire marshal and the Henderson County fire marshal, but a report could be complete by next week. Flowers noted this was the first fire at a multi-family dwelling in the city in a couple of years.</p><p>The fire started on the south side of the condominiums, and preliminary evidence shows the flames began on the ground floor, traveled up to the second floor and headed eastward toward the attic space, Flowers said. In its path, though, were residents.</p><p>A family living in one of the second-story units lowered their two children to safety before the parents jumped from the 10- to 12-foot high second-story balcony themselves. In total, four people were taken to Pardee Hospital with minor injuries.</p><p>Two of those individuals were later taken to Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, Ga., where they were treated for burns on their feet.</p><p>At about 5:10 a.m., Disaster Action Team volunteers from the American Red Cross of the Western Carolinas were dispatched to the structure fire. The seven-person team consisted of three volunteers and four Red Cross staff members.</p><p>Disaster Action Team leader Stephanie Royal of Brevard was one of the volunteers. Royal lost her own home two years ago and now volunteers with the Red Cross to give back to families like hers that have been displaced from their homes after a disaster.</p><p>However, this was the first multi-family fire she has responded to. Though she said there were more factors to consider with a blaze of this scale, one human piece of disaster remains the same.</p><p>“In times like this, people become the person that they didn't know they could be, meaning they become a lot tougher than we think we realize we could be,” Royal said.</p><p>The organization is currently assisting five families displaced by the fire.</p><p>“Everyone there that I saw was in pajamas and bathrobes; they had nothing left,” said John Wareham, chief public affairs officer for the local Red Cross chapter. “The structure is a total loss.”</p><p>Flowers said four of the six units sustained heavy damage, while the other two have fire and water damage.</p><p>Flowers said 26 people from the Hendersonville Fire Department, Valley Hill & Rescue and Mountain Home Fire & Rescue worked at the scene during the course of the day. Dana Fire & Rescue and Blue Ridge Fire & Rescue were put on standby to respond to the fire as well. </p><p>While crews continued to completely put out the fire, Hendersonville police shut down part of West Allen Street.</p><p>Flowers said fighting the flames at Ivy Terrace was particularly complex.</p><p>“Because of the extent of damage and that it was a two-story building, the stuff on the top floor has been falling through to the bottom floor, and we have just been working to get those hot spots out,” he said Friday.</p><p>By that afternoon, some of the condominium building's exposed wooden wall frames more closely resembled used matchsticks than a piece of the facility's architecture.</p><p>“They're going to have to demo this,” Flowers said as he surveyed the structure. He pointed to a screened-in porch on the ground floor on the right side of the building, then pivoted and gestured toward the left side of the building.</p><p>Black ash blanketed the ground where the porch once was, and the soil was sprinkled with splintered and charred wood, roof shingles and broken glass. Flowers said some pet cats were still unaccounted for. </p><p>Following the fire, residents returned to the home where they could no longer live. Some came back to retrieve items they asked local firefighters to get from their units, such as pictures, clothing and important documents. Flowers said one of the tenants lingered and spoke with him. </p><p>Hours after the conversation, Flowers shared what the man told him.</p><p>“He said, 'You know, it is Good Friday: I'm alive.'”</p><p>Reach Byrd at caitlin.byrd@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7881.</p>